Checking in once again on where things stand in the divisional races. Here’s where we are heading into Week 12.

North

Week 11 brought us clarity in the North with Stanford’s 26-20 win over Oregon. The path for the Cardinal couldn’t be clearer. Win. If the Cardinal beat USC this week and Cal next week, they will lock up their second straight North Division title and advance to the Pac-12 championship game with an 8-1 conference record. If Oregon wins out, it too will have an identical 8-1 record, but Stanford would hold the tie-breaker over the Ducks. Oregon’s best chance is to win out and hope for a Stanford loss along the way. Oregon State needs Stanford to lose both games and win out -- including a win over Oregon in the Civil War.

South

Arizona State and UCLA are still the frontrunners and both are in the advantageous position of controlling their own destinies. Those destinies, however, will clash Nov. 23 in Pasadena in a game that could crystallize the standings. But first things first, the Bruins have to get by a Washington team that has been hit-and-miss on the road while ASU hosts an Oregon State team looking to get its aerial groove back. The path for these two teams is simple -- win out, win the division. ASU is 5-1 in conference play with a key tie-breaker over USC. The Trojans and Bruins are both 4-2. USC hosts Stanford this weekend, followed by a trip to Colorado and then a home date with UCLA. USC needs to top the Cardinal, hope UCLA beats ASU (that’s right USC fans, throw on the blues next week) and then hope for an Arizona win in the Territorial Cup game. There are also tie-breaking scenarios, but USC has to win this weekend. A loss to Stanford puts the Trojans at 4-3 in conference play and pretty much out of the conversation.

As a reminder, here’s how the Pac-12 handles tie-breakers.

Two-Team Tie

Head-to-head competition between the two tied teams. (a.) If no game is played between the two tied teams or that game ends in a tie, the following tie-breaking procedures would be applied:

Record in games played within the division.

Record against the next highest placed team in the division (Based on record in all games played within the conference), proceeding through the division.

Record in common conference games.

Highest BCS Ranking following the last weekend of regular-season games.

Total number of wins in a 12-game season. The following conditions will apply to the calculation of the total number of wins: (a.) Only one win against a team from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision or lower division will be counted annually. (b.) Any games that are exempted from counting against the annual maximum number of football contests per NCAA rules (current Bylaw 17. 9.5.2) shall not be included.

Multiple-Team Ties

The following procedures will only be used to eliminate all but two teams, at which point the two-team tie-breaking procedure will be applied.

Head-to-head (Best record in games among the tied teams).

Record in games played within the division.

Record against the next highest placed team in the division (based on record in all games played within the conference), proceeding through the division.

Record in common conference games.

Highest BCS ranking following the last weekend of regular-season games.